To Emend the World

In "God Bless the Experimental Writers," Corey Mesler gently and humorously tackles the reasons why many of us write. I'll admit it, I had to look up the definition of emend, especially since it's such an important part of this poem.

John Cage said that all writing, indeed all creative work, is experimental. I'll put myself in the category for that reason. That and a lack of huge, formal recognition puts many of us in the category of Mesler's experimental writers - we might not know why we write, or for whom, but we know that we must. The emending, a gradual righting of the world through acts of creation, is what we hope for.

30 in 30

Inspired by the Northampton Arts Council's 30 Poems in 30 Days Challenge and all my local poet friends, I quietly committed myself to drafting 30 haiku (or haiku-ish things) in the month of November. I'm proud to say that I did it! Here are 4 of my favorites, in no particular order:


marshmallows, cigarettes, and rum
at the birthday party
all grown up now


walking down fifth ave
so this is where all those clothes
at marshall's come from


comfortable habits
collide with love, nervous me
exploding poems


the bones of mount tom
stones from mother's house, a new
path to my front door